[QUOTE=HardcoreSadism][QUOTE=Segatarious]They are most likely being made defective on purpose.[/QUOTE] To meet their bottom line and defeat the purpose of selling collectible merchandise? Seems legit.[/QUOTE]

Someone having fun on the assembly line?

Now that they see how much those 'defective' units are drawing on ebay, they might be motivated to make and then sell some 'defective' units with 'two arm canons' on ebay and collect the premium for themselves.

Seeing commercials for Amiibos working on tbe WiiU gamepad and the New 3DS. So with the Amiibo we begin to see integration of Nintendo console and portables. It is also a neat way to encourage upgrading your 3DS but not dependent on the small install base of a new portable.

On the other hand, does having Amiibo functionality with a portable even make sense with regards to being a portable? Will we see Amiibo functionality with some brand of mobile device in the future?

I wonder if Amiibos add functionality to older games like Nintendoland or newer ones? For games that have both console and portable versions, do Amiibos work the same way?

Since they are tied to 1st party software, does encouraging Amiibos even further diminish a 3rd party making software for the WiiU?

I think the WiiU now has a bundle with an Amiibo too. So it is definately now a Nintendo feature that will set them apart...and further define Nintendo as a family or nintendo faithful (best case) or a kiddie (worst case) line of products.

The Amiibos, Nintendos near field communication game expansion toys are just "johnny come lately" Skylander toys, like Disney Infinity, right? Guess not...they have become uber popular and some uber scarce over the last few months. Its become so bad its eligible for another item in the 'criticize Nintendo' thread. Instead of making shiny happy customers using their shiny plastic credit cards with smiles, Nintendo seems to be making happy scalpers and resellers but frustrating the faithful.

I am not a fan of DLC, and Nintendo making DLC is bad enough, but making the DLC in the form of a collectible figurine is worse, and them making some models scarce? Strikes One Two and Three. There are also stories like the Amazon "Esteban" rep story that further enflame the faithful. Its possible this is just unexpected popularity (like the Kenner Star Wars toys for Christmas 1977), but this is months later for an April release of toys.

If I buy a game, I want the whole game. By whole I mean its definition - a synonym for complete, total, nothing missing, all that this is and there isn't any more. At least make that an option, like GOTY editions, or "Extended Versions" of Peter Jackson movies or something. This just seems mercenary. Just how many Amiibos do you need to buy to get the 'complete' Super Smash Bros?

Maybe this is good business...but if I had to give Nintendo a personality test, I think Nintendo is coming off a lot less like a Hero and more like Baron Harkonnen of the Dune stories.

Baron Harkonnen: Rabban, Rabban! I place you in charge of Amiibos. It's yours to squeeze, as I promised. I want you to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze.

1) Nintendo, after 3 fiscal years of losses (The WiiU period), is making significant money on the Amiibos. Look for selling DLC plastic toys to be a growing part of the Nintendo business model.

2) Nintendo is getting pushback from people seeing this as a bubble, like Beanie Babies. While Nintendo might be smiling at profits, they are setting up a situation that may seriously upset some of their most devoted fans - either through shortage, dealing with inflated secondary markets, or finding out their figures lost substantial value when the bubble bursts. While Nintendo can say they never saw the demand so high, or blame supply chain or a dock workers strike, they have deliberately created many different varieties of Amiibo in a very short time frame, retiring older figures, and feeding the fire much like TY did with Beanie Babies. Now Nintendo is apologizing, not for doing this, but just not at communicating better.

3) Comments I've read state that the amiibos are mostly plastic figurines with minimal DLC on them. First, DLC from Nintendo is like...guess we've been over that, but my opinion is highly derogatory to Nintendo. So, little kid buys the figure, trains up their Pikachu or something, and find out they can't use it as a playable character, only as a computer NPC. As someone said, its like buying a Mortal Kombat figurine, and finding out it can only be used as your opponent. That's not just DLC, its second rate DLC.

So, Nintendo is making money, collectors have new collectibles, whats not to like, eh? A lot. Reminds me of a quote from The Godfather: Don Corleone: It makes no difference, it don't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand. But your business is a little dangerous.

My opinion is still positive, and has even modified to be somewhat more so. I don't think I could disagree more scotland. Think about it like this instead of how you are thinking about it:

A little kid wants to buy DLC. The little kid either has to a) Bug Mom and Dad for their credit card to buy this one piece of one time DLC for one game.b) Bug Mom and Dad to buy an online store card, with that ugly left over balance problem and the annoyance of entering the 15 digit number.c) Say to Mom and Dad "Gee, I'd sure like to have that Mario figure."

Why do you think Skylanders et al. work? Look at the market and realize they don't have credit cards. Realize they have been having to beg their parents to buy things that don't exist.

As for it being sub par DLC, I fail to see how DLC across multiple games for a one time fee is worse than DLC in one game for a one time fee? Continued support for a product a long time after you buy it isn't the console way, I agree. It's the PC way. In this one area, I have to think copying PC is a good idea.